Love, Genie
by shivaun18
Summary: For as long as she can remember, Ghazal Djann has been one of the many jinn serving under the self-proclaimed "Guardian of Wishes", Iblis. Until she ends up with a very real, very unconscious Easter Bunny on her hands, and she's going to be lucky if getting fired is all that happens to her.
1. Prologue

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

**Another sort of disclaimer – the main OC is a genie. Genies are Islamic (it's said that Allah made angels from air, humans from earth and djinn from fire). Therefore, this story will reference religion more than a fair bit. I'm trying to tread lightly around it so no one is offended, but please feel free to send me a PM or review if it doesn't work.**

**And now for the prologue, in Daniel Bennett's POV! Enjoy!**

**(Also I think the art book or something said that Jamie had a single mother, but I changed it because why not? Maybe they were just split up at the time of the movie.)**

* * *

Dan was not having a good week.

No, scratch that. He wasn't having a good _month_.

"Okay, Sophie, come on," Dan grunted, trying to peel the toddler off his shin. His daughter wasn't having any of it.

"Puppy!" she cooed in her childish little lilt as a stray dog crossed in front of them. "Puppy!"

"You already have a puppy, Sophie- wait a minute, where's your brother?"

Helen was going to _kill_ him. Not even five minutes into their walk and he had already _lost_ their son. Could he do nothing right?

"Dad!" Jamie hollered from the doorway of a shop, frantically beckoning for Dan. "Dad, come over here! Quickly!"

Dan tried his best to waddle over with a three year old stuck to his leg, but it wasn't fast enough if Jamie's impatient wriggling was anything to go by. Dan felt a little sting of annoyance. If _he_ had ever shown such insolence when he was a kid, his father would have – (and Dan stopped that train of thought before it became _too_ obvious he was reaching his Best Before date).

"What is it, kiddo?" Dan grunted, trying and failing again to pull Sophie off his leg. Jamie's grin widened in excitement.

"I need money, dad! I was looking in this shop, and they had issue 47 of _Greatest Mysteries Uncovered_ – you know, the one that Abby chewed up – and it's almost _new_, and-"

"Just put whatever you want on the counter," Dan sighed wearily, taking out his credit card. He flinched when Sophie finally detached herself with a shriek of excitement and hurtled into the aisles of the shops.

"Tough to be a dad," the old shopkeeper joked later when he was ringing up the stack of items on the counter.

"You," Dan said flatly, "have no idea."

* * *

_Helen's going to be furious._

The thought occurred to Dan later as he was putting away Jamie and Sophie's purchases in the toy boxes (He and Helen had bought it when Jamie was little in hopes that it'd bring a much-needed sense of organisation to the house. It didn't work. It was mainly used for joyriding down the stairs or occasionally through the snow during winter. They still put away the toys there though; Dan supposed it made them feel like they were accomplishing _something_.)

_Forget furious, she's going to string me up six ways from hell._

Dan leaned heavily against the wall, closing his eyes as his heart wrenched at the reminder of his wife. Maybe she would have forgiven him for spoiling their kids last year, but ever since Dan had lost his job at the bank, money had been tight. Helen – whose highlights of her days were watching the kids – had to find another job, one that gave more pay but kept her at the office longer.

She was working tonight. She told him she'd be staying late, so she'd sleep in her office. Wasn't the first time she had done so. Of course, Dan understood. She had to support the whole family now. It was no surprise that she'd have to work longer hours. And yet…

Dan shook away his doubts, whipping his head like a dog shaking off water. He picked up the bag again and resumed packing away the toys. A Loch Ness Monster plush toy was tossed into the box. Soon a picture book of aliens (with squeaky pages – no surprise there considering who chose it) joined it. Dan slipped his hand back inside the bag, then jerked his fingers away in surprise when he felt something warm.

_What the hell?_

Dan pulled the object out, staring at it in surprise. A brass oil lamp hung from his fingertips. How on earth had Jamie managed to sneak that past him? What would Jamie even want with an oil lamp? And why was it…warm?

Despite Dan's better judgement, he inspected it closer. The outside was rather sooty. His fingers were coming away dark and smudged as he turned the lamp over in his hands. Dan rummaged in his pockets and pulled out a tissue. Without even thinking, he began to rub the lamp.

_Back…and forth…and back-_

_**Shoom**_**.**

With a noise like a storm of cyclonic proportions, air and smoke and _glitter_ began whipping out of the spout of the oil lamp. Dan yelped and dropped the lamp as it burned so hot that it scalded his hands. He watched in horror and morbid fascination as the sparkling emerald smog spun like a tornado, arching up above him. A body – caramel skinned and lithe – began to unfold from the storm of haze and glitter. Jet black almond-shaped eyes edged in flowery henna designs opened, peeking through tendrils of dark hair. Then…

"Ah, crap, not again," the girl complained in annoyance as she glowered down at Dan. Dan felt his jaw drop as he stared in bewilderment up at her. "How did you find my lamp?"

"I – but you-" Dan stuttered. The girl sighed and rolled her eyes.

"Well, no matter I guess. Okay, here's the drill. The name's Ghazal – call me Gazzy. I'm a genie, or a jinni – a jinniyah if you want to get technical since I'm a girl, but you humans never do – or a djinni. Silent 'd'."

"A _genie_?" Dan yelped, his heart feeling like it was about to stop in his chest. The girl – Ghazal – continued on as if she hadn't heard him, drumming her fingers impatiently on her arm. Dan could see flashes of a flower inked in henna on the palms of each of her hands.

"You get three wishes, but there are restrictions. It's all basically the same deal as the genie in Aladdin." When Dan continued gawping at her, Ghazal elaborated, "You know, the Disney movie?"

"I know what it is!" Dan snapped before his mind could catch up. He _was _the father of two kids. "It's just…a lot to take in. Genies don't exist!"

"Oh great, here we go," Ghazal said, rolling her eyes. She gestured to a nearby seat – a tiny little thing meant for kids Sophie's age. "Pull up a chair, this is going to take a while."

Dan shakily sunk into the chair, so stunned he didn't even react to the creak the chair gave. He stared up Ghazal, who was arching a condescending eyebrow at him.

He had to be going insane. He just had to be. That was why he just saw a genie appear in his kids' playroom.

It also had to be why the only thing that struck him as wrong was the fact that Gazzy still lacked anything waist-down. The glitter and smoke still swirled around her legs in an emerald tornado.

"Why don't you have legs?" Dan blurted out stupidly. Ghazal's eyebrow got – if possible – even _more_ condescending.

"Because, _master_, you haven't given me permission to _walk_."

"Oh," Dan said eloquently. Then he fumbled uselessly with his hands, then gave up. "Would you like your legs back?"

Ghazal rolled her eyes. "_Thank_ you." With that over and done with, the tornado dwindled down, revealing slender legs with terrifyingly high stiletto heels on her feet. Dan was a little disappointed at her outfit, which – aside from the henna tattoos inked up and down her legs – seemed more appropriate for an office worker than a genie.

"I thought genies wore those…puffy pants?"

Ghazal cocked an eyebrow at him as she bent down and picked up the oil lamp. Even the backs of her hands and fingers were inked in henna like lace gloves. "Why would we wear those? You know what those are? _Concubine_ clothes. Why would we dress like sex slaves?"

Dan hesitated a moment too long and Ghazal's expression turned to disgust.

"You sick, perverted _bast_-"

"I wasn't going to ask!" Dan said hastily, holding his hands up in defence. Ghazal surveyed him, then nodded and turned away when she realised he was telling the truth. She busied herself with positioning the oil lamp on top of a cabinet.

"Well, good. You can't wish for that anyway. I had a friend once who had to pretend to be her master's date. Didn't go so well for him. You don't force second base on a jinni without getting third degree burns."

Dan had stopped listening to her story and found a more pressing matter – the need to breathe.

"Oh, great, now you're dying," Ghazal said in disgust as Dan began to hyperventilate. She settled back and watched him. "You know, if you die without using your wishes, I'm free."

"I'm not dying!" Dan wheezed at her, bending over until his head was between his knees. "Just in shock."

Ghazal sighed impatiently, tutting. "Humans. Tell you what, go ahead and give me your first wish if you still don't believe this is real."

Well, that was easy. "I wish I was rich."

Ghazal didn't even hesitate. "How do you want it – cash, cheque, lotto tickets, gold bars…?"

Dan blinked at her, bewildered. Then he threw all caution to the wind. What the hell, he might as well, right? "Gold bars. Stacked in a pyramid."

Ghazal flicked her fingertips at him. A sudden blaze of emerald light made Dan throw his hands up to protect him from the glare. When it settled down again, layers upon layers of solid gold bars were stacked on top of each other in the most luxurious pyramid Dan had ever seen. There was also a scarlet red line tracing down the column of Ghazal's throat, something he was sure wasn't there before.

"Holy shit," Dan said blankly, leaning back. Something occurred to him and he frowned and looked up."Hang on, if you're making money, won't that crash the economy?"

"I don't make money," Ghazal said as if the very idea was stupid. "I take it from someone else."

This was going to be a very long day.

* * *

**And there's the prologue! The rest of the story will probably be from Ghazal's POV. **

**Okay, first of all. Ghazal's outfit. I was always really confused as to why genies dressed like concubines in popular culture. Genies are Islamic. I don't know if you've noticed, but there were pretty strict clothing laws for women in Islamic culture. So when she's on a job, she dresses like a secretary – you know, pencil skirt, work blouses, high heels etc (which I thought made sense because genies are basically magical secretaries).This would have changed throughout history depending on what was worn as business attire at the time. Basically the only thing about her appearance that marks her as a genie is her henna tattoos. I've always loved henna tattoos, and I thought it fitting that jinn would wear them. All the henna tattoos I was inspired by are on my profile. Check them out, they're beautifully done :) **

**(But she does have leisure clothes, so if you really want you can imagine she dresses more exotically in her free time.)**

**Second of all. I'm going to be using the terms genies, djinn and jinn pretty interchangeably. Though djinn are generally the male genies and jinn are the females. I'm doing a lot of research into constructing the djinn, but I **_**am**_** using artistic license. That being said, please still feel free to point out any inaccuracies because I might not have realised it and was just being stupid.**

**Bunnymund shows up in a couple more chapters. Does anyone want me to put a glossary of his slang at the end of each chapter he's in? Or does everyone think they can figure it out?**

**Please review!**

**(P.S. I need a cover art. Who wants to do me one?)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognise.**

**This'll mainly be a chapter of setting up Ghazal's character. And fleshing out the Bennett family. They're a rather special family; the daughter is BFF's with the Easter Bunny, the son is the first one to hug Jack Frost in 300 years, and the father now has a genie. Let's see if I'll give the mother a role :P**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

Gazzy ignored her master's frazzled mutterings and lowered herself into what had to be the most ridiculously tiny chair she had ever seen. And she had visited the fey court and seen some of the tiny freaks they catered to.

"Are you done?" Gazzy interrupted unapologetically after she grew impatient of catering to the human's fragile mind. "Because I really would like to get a move on with this."

"What do you mean you _take_ it from someone else?!" the man yelped at her, jerking up in his own tiny seat.

"What?" Gazzy snapped impatiently, shifting in the ridiculously tiny chair uncomfortably. "You said it yourself, I can't make money without damaging the economy. We get it from someone different every week, I think this week it's some decrepit old man in China…" Gazzy trailed off, trying to recall where her magic had stolen the gold. China sounded probably right. Somewhere in that general continent, at least.

"You can't just take money from someone else!" the man had the _audacity_ to lecture her. "That's stealing!"

Gazzy stared frostily at him, levelling him with a glare she had had countless millenniums to perfect.

"Says the man," Gazzy hissed through clenched teeth, "who wished to be _rich_."

"I didn't think you'd…" her master faltered. He pinched his nose, breathing heavily. Gazzy curiously extended a tendril of magic and brushed his mind. His thoughts rang out to her, clear and lovely.

_What sort of example would I be setting for Jamie and Sophie to take this?_

Gazzy pulled back, raising a sceptical eyebrow. So her master was a father? This was…surprisingly newer than it should have been. Even fathers succumbed to greed sooner or later. She was a little disappointed. Maybe she was an optimist, but she thought fathers should have kept their greed under control for their children. Ah well. C'est la vie. C'est la mort.

"I can see you need time to collect your thoughts," Gazzy said dismissively, standing up and heading for her lamp. "Call me when you have your next wish."

Gazzy was just about to open up the portal in the spout of her lamp when her master – _Daniel_–burst out, "W-Wait!"

Gazzy turned marginally, cocking an eyebrow at him over her shoulder. "Yes, master?"

Daniel had flinched at his title, but pressed on. "Would you like to stay for dinner? My wife is…well, she's not going to be home for dinner. My kids…they're young enough to believe in you without asking questions. So…how about it?"

Gazzy turned a little more towards him, staring curiously at him. Was this supposed to be some sort of joke? She cautiously extended her magic, then pulled back when assured of his sincerity. So he was just an odd human. And odd human with a heart and too much greed.

"Hey, you don't want to feed a jinni in your house," Gazzy joked. "We're literally just fire in a human form. You know what happens when you feed fire? Trust me, five hundred foot tall girls are hard to hide."

Daniel looked a little wounded, and Gazzy almost sighed. The man was like a puppy. "So you're just going to hide away until I think of a wish?"

"Maybe another time," Gazzy said, only half lying. She gave him a little awkward wave, then opened the portal to Oman and stepped through.

* * *

_A screech of laughter greeted her. "Little Djann got caught! Little Djann got caught! And by such a fine physical specimen, too…what happened to liking them tall?" _

"_Shut up, Ifrit. He's married."_

_Lights bobbed as the curvier genie giggled delicately. There was a sickly sweet, cloying smell like rotten fruit in the air. "And lonely. His bed has been too cold for too long."_

_Hesitation. "We're all lonely sometimes, Nahid. But not all of us need to justify it with a warm bed."_

* * *

Gazzy lounged in Oman with the other djinn for two more nights, then she felt something tugging at her subconscious. She closed her eyes and let herself be pulled towards the presence in her mind. When she opened her eyes again, she was floating in a kitchen somewhere. The tornado around her waist made her feel like she was being slowly swallowed by a snake.

"What in the seven hells?" Gazzy mumbled in bewilderment, looking around. Who had called her? Then she heard a sniffling sound from below her. She looked down, and felt close to screeching at the sight.

In a snivelling, sobbing mess was a very drunk, very _pathetic_ Daniel.

"How was I ever cursed with the misfortune of having you as my master?" Gazzy bemoaned, casting her gaze heavenwards as if Allah would reach down and whisper the answer in her ear.

"G-Ghazal, I thought of my second wish!" Daniel bellowed upwards, but it came out as a piteous whine. "Stop having legs and join me!"

"What are you _talking_ about?" Gazzy growled in irritation, but she could feel the pressure around her legs ease until she had landed lightly on her feet. Daniel held up a bottle of whiskey to her, his hand trembling slightly as he gripped the bottle.

"My second wish is…you h-have to be my drinking buddy!"

"You're an idiot," Gazzy snapped, looking around. "Where are your children? This would scar them for life."

At the reminder of Sophie and Jamie, Daniel started sobbing even _harder_. Big, fat tears rolled from his eyes and spattered onto the kitchen tiles. "H-Helen took them…my Helen of Troy, and she'll love the kids but not me…"

"This is truly pathetic," Gazzy breathed, pinching her nose and closing her eyes.

"Gha_zal_," Daniel wailed. He held up the bottle. "Second wish! Drinking buddy!"

"You're an idiot," Gazzy said, but it came out more bitter than annoyed. "Do you think I'm completely heartless? This one's on me." She joined him on the floor. Daniel offered her the bottle sloppily.

"Drink?"

"Rule number one of life: Don't feed a fire with alcohol," Gazzy retorted, pushing the bottle away. The fire crackling beneath her skin was just barely contained and didn't make her skin quite so burning to touch, but even so the traces of alcohol on her fingertips steamed a little. Daniel didn't seem to notice and took another swig of his bottle. Gazzy settled back and surveyed him, trying to judge how much he and drunken and how long he'd been at it. Daniel was by no means a large man, and didn't look like a heavy weight. But the bottle of bourbon glued to his lips was more than half empty, and definitely not the only bottle she could see in the kitchen. Gazzy had to be honest; she was surprised he was still conscious.

Gazzy sighed, then pried the bottle out of Daniel's fingers. When he let out a little mewl of distress, she cut over him. "Where's Helen?"

Daniel's eyes were glassy as he looked mournfully at her. "She left. I dunno where she's gone…"

That wasn't helpful. Gazzy vanished all the bottles into the trash. "And Jamie and Sophie?"

Big, fat tears rolled down Daniel's face. "S-She took them with her. She said they shouldn't see me this way."

Holy fruitcake, Gazzy _really_ hated her job sometimes. "You were drunk _before_ they left?!"

Daniel curled away from Gazzy, sobbing harder. "Why doesn't my Helen love me anymore? How can she _do_ this to me?"

Gazzy was ready to tear out her hair. She had had bad masters before, and she had had to take care of drunken friends before, but the two had never overlapped. _Maybe I should just leave him. If he dies, I'm free_.

She'd also have the blood of a husband and father of two children on her hands.

Frankly, Gazzy had crossed a lot of lines, but that wasn't one of them.

"Okay, up you get," Gazzy ordered, heaving Daniel to his feet. Daniel almost fell right back over, but Gazzy threw his arm over her shoulders and wedged her shoulder into his armpit to get a better grip on him. Then she got to work on dragging him up to his room (no mean feat considering Daniel refused to _move his freaking legs_).

It took a while and some sneaky use of magic, but Gazzy soon had Daniel to his room. She tried to let him fall onto the bed, but he kept his arm stubbornly around her and ended up dragging Gazzy with him. Gazzy yelped when she fell next to him on the bed, her head bumping painfully against his collarbone.

"Ghazal, how do you make someone love you?" Daniel wheezed, wiping tears away roughly with the back of his hand.

"Flowers usually work," Gazzy said breezily, trying to pry his arm off her. Daniel shook his head and clung tighter to her.

"No, really. Mean it. How would a Mr Genie woo _you_?"

Gazzy finally worked his arm off her and sat up. She cocked her head at Daniel, pitying the drunken childish mess.

"It would take someone special to do that," Gazzy finally said, flicking her fingertips at him. Daniel's clothes were replaced by his pyjamas and a blanket appeared on top of him. "After living so long, he'd need to be a breath of fresh air in my life. He'd need to be able to keep me going. Bring me…"

"Hope," Daniel slurred groggily, and then his eyes were shut and Gazzy was left to ponder on his words by herself.

* * *

Against Gazzy's better judgement, she decided to stick around to keep an eye on Daniel. She made herself invisible and perched in the trees outside their house. None of the family appeared to notice her, though Gazzy was about 80% sure the little girl – Sophie – had waved at her when Gazzy snuck down when she saw a car pull into the driveway two days later.

Helen was…pretty, in a tired, withdrawn way. She looked like a woman who had been working too hard for too long. She was clutching Sophie to her like a lifeline, and whenever Jamie lagged too far behind her she would reach back and pull him closer. She had hesitated before she reached the door, but eventually unlocked the door and pushed it open. As the door shut behind her, Gazzy walked up to the window and tapped it lightly, changing its density so that she'd be able to hear their conversations.

Daniel was at the table, head in his hands and shoulders hunched over. He shot to his feet when he looked up and saw Helen standing motionlessly there. Sophie was still clutched to her, but Jamie had run off to the living room.

"Helen-" Daniel began in a raspy voice, but Helen held up a hand.

"Dan…no more drinking."

Daniel nodded quickly. "O-Of course!"

"Because seeing you like that…" Helen hesitated, her head held high but her eyes swimming in grief. "Baby, I can't do it."

"I promise," Daniel swore, holding out his hands. "Please."

Helen closed her eyes and breathed deeply, then opened them and nodded. "Then I'm going to go pack. I think…I think I'm going to visit my mother for a little while."

Daniel's jaw dropped, and that was when Gazzy decided that she had intruded long enough. She flicked her fingertips to make Jamie and Sophie drift off to sleep, then slipped into the house and opened the portal to Oman from her oil lamp.

* * *

Two months of complete silence from Daniel's end passed by for Gazzy. Usually she savoured these long holidays – she hated the uniform the jinn had to wear and relished the opportunity to lounge in whatever she wished to wear – but she couldn't help feel a little concerned for the broken man she had left behind. His wife had left him, and she was more than willing to bet that she had taken the kids with her. Wars had been waged over love and lost children. Gazzy had seen better men than him buckle under the loss.

"Ah well, c'est la vie_,_" Gazzy mumbled absentmindedly, letting her head drop back on the lounge chair.

"C'est la mort," Amirah – her supervisor – finished, appearing in the living room of the home Gazzy shared with nine other jinn. "What are you talking about, habibi?"

"If my master dies, I am free, correct?" Gazzy asked, deflecting the question. Amirah tilted up Gazzy's chin, then let it go when she saw the single line down the column of her throat.

"Correct, habibi."

"I wish to be free, but…" Gazzy hesitated, wringing her hands nervously. "My master…he's too good to die. He has children and a wife!"

"Wait and hope for your next one to die," Amirah offered helpfully, joining Gazzy on the lounge chair. "Or destroy the object you are bound to. I hear you will either die or be free."

"Those are horrible chances," Gazzy said flatly, pulling away from the woman who had been like a mother to her since she became a jinni. Gazzy didn't remember much – _or any – _of her life before Iblis employed her, but from the moment Gazzy was bound to her oil lamp, Amirah had clucked over her like a mother hen.

"If you dislike those chances, you can only wait for a master who will die before he uses all his wishes," Amirah said gently, patting her hand. Gazzy sighed, but was spared from finding an answer by a tug on her subconscious and the shimmer of her uniform replacing her leisure clothes. More relieved than she should have been, Gazzy closed her eyes and let herself soar to the tug.

* * *

"I think my wife's having an affair."

The statement hung in the air for a little while. Gazzy settled back, the coffee Daniel had ordered for her laying untouched.

"Oh," Gazzy said eloquently after a while. She wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. "I'm… sorry."

Daniel shook his head bitterly, draining his coffee. There were bags under his eyes that spoke of painful, sleepless nights. "Don't be. S'not your fault."

Gazzy _really_ wasn't sure how she was supposed to respond. Djinn didn't really form long term romantic relationships, but the odd case of infidelity they'd have usually ended in a murderous rampage from the victim. (Djinn had morals that would probably shock the average human, and millenniums of seeing the worst of the world only sharpened the bloodlust every djinni had been made – or born, or _whatever_ – with).

Gazzy was pretty sure Daniel wasn't homicidal though.

"I never thanked you the other day," Daniel said finally, putting down his coffee. Gazzy had been surprised to see he had summoned her in public, but had made herself visible to everyone else so that Daniel didn't look crazy. She could honestly say she had never had a coffee date (if you could call it that) with any master before.

"For what?" Gazzy asked, bewildered. Daniel shook his head impatiently.

"For not letting me waste my wish. And…for staying with me. And taking care of me. I was a mess."

"Yeah, you were," Gazzy said nonchalantly, then flinched when she realised Daniel could take offence to that. Daniel didn't seem to, however, and only continued on.

"But I'd like to use that wish now. I wish…I'd know if my wife was having an affair or not."

"Are you sure?" Gazzy asked sombrely. It wasn't her place to question a master's wishes, but his wish didn't seem intelligent. "Relationships never get better when magic interferes."

"I'm sure," Daniel said firmly. Gazzy sighed and bit her lip.

"Master…you really need to talk to her if you think she's having an affair. The basis of any relationship is how much you can trust and talk to them."

Daniel only waited. Gazzy sat back and looked at him for a long time.

"She's not," Gazzy said after a long pause. She hadn't known before, but when Daniel had wished it the knowledge had suddenly popped into her mind like she had known it all along.

"But she's always working!" Daniel protested, but his shoulders sagged in relief and he was blinking back tears.

"You just lost your job," Gazzy said, the knowledge _pinging_ in her mind. She could feel the slight sting of another line joining the first on her throat. "She needs to put in extra hours to make sure _she_ doesn't lose _hers_."

"I never did find out whose house she stayed at when she took the kids."

"Her best friend's place. Jamie's friends with her daughter so no one was complaining."

"She doesn't love me anymore," Daniel said, his voice no more than a whisper. Gazzy bit her lip. She couldn't deny that. But she hesitantly patted his hand.

"You've changed too, you know. She thinks…you're more distant since you lost your job. You won't talk to her, or the kids. Not really. Not like you used to. She thinks it's like you've been replaced by a stranger."

Daniel looked stricken. "Oh god, I-I-I…really? Have I really been that bad?"

Gazzy mentally sighed. Daniel had all the confidence of a used tissue at that moment. He couldn't take anymore criticism.

"But she doesn't want to drift from you," Gazzy said gently. "She wants to love you again. She misses you. You just have to…talk to her."

Daniel buried his face in his hands. "I can't…I don't know how to fix this."

Gazzy sat back and considered it. A jinni was probably not the best person to ask for romantic advice, but Gazzy had been around a while. One master she had served even wished for her help on wooing someone. (It was a princess and therefore completely hopeless, but that was beside the point.)

After a while, Gazzy eventually said, "Get someone to look after Sophie and Jamie for the night. Make Helen dinner. Candles, roses, champagne…the works. And…talk to her. _Really_ talk to her. Confide everything. And…it might not fix it, but it'll help. I promise."

Daniel took a deep, ragged breath then nodded. "Let's hope so. Thank you so much, Ghazal."

"Hey, that's what I'm here for," Gazzy joked, even though she really _wasn't_.

* * *

"_That was nice of you."_

"_Hm? Was it?"_

"_Oh, don't act dumb. You know it was."_

"_I felt…sorry for him. He loves her and he's willing to change for her. That's…good, right?"_

"_Change isn't always good. You're changing."_

"_No I'm not."_

"_You didn't twist his wish. You always twist wishes. _We_ always twist wishes. It's what djinn do. It's why we're so feared."_

"_Well maybe I'm tired of being feared!"_

"_You're talking nonsense. Go sleep, your last wish should be coming up soon."_

* * *

Two weeks passed before Gazzy was summoned back. The Daniel who was waiting for her in the living room was much different to the one who she met at the coffee shop. His skin had a healthy glow and there were no longer bags under his eyes. He was by no means a picture of health, but he didn't look broken anymore.

"You were right," Daniel said, his eyes lighting up as he grinned. "Helen and I…we talked all night. She said everything you said. It was fantastic."

"I always am," Gazzy said breezily, flopping down onto the couch after Daniel had given her back her legs. Daniel was beaming as he watched her. "So, what's your next wish, o master of mine?"

The smile faded from his face. Gazzy was immediately worried.

"Uh oh, who's dying?"

"No one!" Daniel said hastily, throwing up his hands. "It's just…okay, after the big talk I had with Helen, she and the kids moved back in. And…"

He hesitated. In fact, he hesitated so long that Gazzy almost got impatient and opened her mouth to probe him along.

Then Daniel blurted out, "I think there's something sneaking into my daughter's room!"

Gazzy did not expect that. "Little Sophie? Why?"

"I hear footsteps, sometimes," Daniel explained anxiously, wringing his hands. "Heavy ones. Heavy enough to be adult footsteps. But when I go up, there's no one else in her room. And we've been finding things in her room, like toys or little figurines. Stuff we've never seen or bought for her. They just appear in her room. And for some reason she has a lot of chocolate eggs. It isn't even Easter!"

"But how would someone be getting in?" Gazzy murmured thoughtfully, rubbing her chin.

"The window is sometimes open," Daniel offered, eager to help. "When I find it open, those are the nights where I can hear more than one set of footsteps. But sometimes it isn't."

Interesting. So, so interesting. Maybe Sophie had found a djinni as well? Gazzy was suddenly nervous. A three year old could do a lot of damage with the power of a djinni. And a djinni could do a lot of damage with the weak, suggestible mind of a three year old.

"I'm guessing your last wish is to capture your daughter's visitor," Gazzy said after a long, thoughtful silence. Daniel nodded graciously.

"Yes please. It's always at night, after Helen and I have put her to bed."

"I'll come back tonight then," Gazzy said decisively. She rose to her feet. "But let me check out her room first. I'll ask around, see if I can figure out what's visiting her."

* * *

Gazzy looked long and hard, but found nothing out of the ordinary in Sophie's room. There were indeed the toys and figurines Daniel had told her about, as well as the colourfully painted shells of some of the chocolate eggs. But there was no genie vessel, no residue magic.

There was something that caught her attention though – traces of sand on Sophie's bed.

Daniel was a clean man (when he wasn't drunk). Helen had looked even more so. Neither would let Sophie go to bed dirty, and certainly wouldn't allow her bed to remain as sandy as it did. So what left the sand?

Gazzy eventually left to go quiz Amirah about any djinn in Burgess.

"Burgess?" Amirah asked, blinking at her. Then she shook her head. "No, habibi. Not at the moment. Just you. Besides, you'd certainly know if two djinn shared a household. Your magic would interfere with each other."

Curiouser and curiouser.

* * *

Gazzy came back to the Bennett household at 7:55 – exactly five minutes before Daniel had told her the bedtime routines started. As Helen helped Sophie wash her face and change into her pyjamas, Daniel sat on Sophie's bed and watched Gazzy get to work on the room.

"So, what is this going to do, exactly?" Daniel asked after a while. Gazzy pulled back after she had finished with the windows.

"It's a trap spell. If anyone not a Bennett – and me, I guess – tries to enter this room, they'll end up knocked out and in a cage as a neat little package for you to inspect. I'll stick around to help you deal with it."

Daniel nodded. "Got it. I told Helen that my sister wants to see Jamie after Sophie's asleep, so we'll have the house to ourselves."

"Got it," Gazzy echoed. She finally finished with the room and pulled back. "Well, that's the last spell. Now to just sit back and wait…"

* * *

Helen came in to put Sophie to bed. Gazzy and Daniel sat on the staircase and listened as the car pulled out of the driveway. Then they waited in silence.

_Tick._

_Tock._

_Tick._

_Tock._

_Tick._

_Tock._

It was at exactly 8:45 when Gazzy heard Sophie's squeal of alarm and a decidingly masculine cry of pain. Gazzy and Daniel took the staircase two steps at a time, racing to Sophie's room. Daniel was the one to reach first and fling open the door, but Gazzy was the only one to see what awaited them.

"Oh my cheese nips," Gazzy said, feeling her face twist in horror. She was _so_ fucked. "We just captured the fucking Easter Bunny!"

* * *

**I'm basically using the different types of genies as a hierarchy throughout their little…company, I suppose it is. And their position is their last name. The different levels from highest to lowest are:**

**Marid**

**Si'lat**

**Ifrit**

**Djann & Ghul**

**Shiqq**

**Hinn & Palis**

**Nasnas**

**So Ghazal is a Djann, around the middle of the hierarchy. Her supervisor Amirah is a Si'lat, and is therefore her superior. The boss of all the genies isn't on there and so doesn't have a last name. But his name's Iblis. If you're familiar with Islamic scripture, you'll recognise his name. Otherwise, don't worry about it.**

**I'd like to get one thing straight – Ghazal knows two languages. English and Arabic. She knows virtually no French. The uses of "C'est la vie" and "C'est la mort" are the result of a running joke in the household she lives in. Someone used it millenniums ago, and now everyone in that one household knows when someone says "C'est la vie", you reply "C'est la mort". It's also a motivational saying, sort of.**

**And another thing – Daniel **_**cannot**_** see Bunnymund. He doesn't believe in the Easter Bunny. But I don't care if you believe in the Easter Bunny or not, if there's a six foot rabbit stomping around in your daughter's room, you should be able to hear him. But Gazzy can see him, because she knows the guardians really exist.**

**I hope you enjoyed, and please review!**


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